Yeah damn shame. He is I think a good example of a fighter who achieved, not necessarily by natural talent, but just by sheer hard work ethic and a really good engine.
Another LH of the late 60s early 70s that was colorful was Frankie De Paula , a rock em sock em type, not to big but strong and carried a heavy clout, fought ans beat a few good contenders before landing a shot at Foster, by all accounts had the lean one on the floor in the first !! Mixed with a few mob members as I recall, and was shot and paralyzed, died quite young unfortunately.
I think some guys fall off the map because there isn't much to debate about them. Guys like McGirt "are who we thought they were", while guys like Pipino Cuevas are still questioned to whether they were really top shelf or looked better than they were because of the time frame and competition or whether maybe they got exposed on the downside.